Pottstown council gets first look at plans for new borough garage

By
Evan Brandt, The Mercury

Thursday, February 6, 2014

POTTSTOWN — The public got its first look Wednesday night at plans for a new 11,677 square-foot public works facility intended for a site in the western portion of the borough between Rice and Prince streets.

Martin Kimmel, a principal in the firm of Kimmel Borgrette, outlined the site plans for the site at 10 Rice St., that aims to make the facility “a good neighbor and environmentally friendly.”

The site, Kimmel said, will have access from both Rice and Prince streets and will include nearly 9,000 square feet of “open air” work space that will be largely surrounded by the buildings in the site, in order to shield it from view of the neighbors.

The buildings there will be steel and block and built in such a way that salt storage will be greatly increased, and not a problem in terms of causing deterioration of any of the building, as happened in the past at the current borough garage on Beech Street.

“This is a 50-year-plus building, with no wood frame and it will be as maintenance-free as possible,” Kimmel said.

Metal buildings, he said, may be less expensive but they often do not last as long.

“This building is going to stay clean and not get that tattered effect you can get with the metal buildings because, let’s face it, these buildings get used hard,” said Kimmel.

“In recent weeks we’ve seen the reason for what we want the public works department to be able to do,” said Kimmel in reference to the ice storm which had nearly prevented him from making it to Pottstown for the Wednesday night meeting.

He said the expanded salt storage, work space, storage space for equipment “mostly meets the needs you don’t have now.”

Public Works Director Doug Yerger said the department currently has 17 staff members and Borough Manager Mark Flanders noted that as plans stand now, “some of the staff will have to park on Prince Street.”

Councilman Dan Weand asked if, when solar power becomes more economically feasible, the roof of the new building would be strong enough for solar panels to be installed there.

“The roof is strong enough and its flat, so the best alignment to maximize solar can be made,” Kimmel responded.

“We’re getting there,” Toroney said of the long efforts to build a new borough garage.